The Battle We Didn’t Chose – messages from a heart wrenching blog
Angelo Merendino met Jennifer eight years ago in New York. He felt in the first moment that the girl was the one he was looking for all his life, that she was the one for him. ‘She was strong, beautiful and full of life’, he said. The girl felt the same; they fell in love and soon, surrounded by their family and friends, they got married in Central Park. And they lived happily until…
‘I remember the moment exactly… Jen’s voice and the numbing feeling that squeezed me. I could never get rid of this feeling. I won’t forget how we looked into each other’s eyes, held each other’s hands and said, we are together, everything will be all right’ – this is how Angelo remembers the day when, five months after their wedding, Jennifer let him know she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The couple didn’t lose hope. Instead, they decided to use all their strength to fight. Their greatest weapon was laughter. The husband decided to take a series of photos depicting their journey spent together all the way to his wife’s recovery.
Jennifer died on December 22nd, 2012, shortly after her fortieth birthday. Her husband decided shortly afterwards that he would create a blog from their memories, thus making a memento for her love and helping those who fight the same battle. The story of the couple, along with more photos can be found on the blog with the following link: http://mywifesfightwithbreastcancer.com/.
After his wife’s death Angelo created a foundation called The Love You Share, in order to help cancer patients. The foundation is funded by donations and half of the sales of a book. Compiling the material on his blog and the description of his experience, Angelo published the story of his wife and himself in a book in September. The book can be ordered in paper form or electronically.
The message: before her death, Jen set a reminder on Angelo’s phone, home computer and laptop. On the 22nd of every month, at different times, the gadgets notify him that ‘Jen thinks Angelo is hot!’
‘I don’t know why she has chosen the 22nd – maybe because I have my birthday on that day in October. Or perhaps she just wanted to make me happy and didn’t pay attention to the date. She herself died on the 22nd, in December’, writes Angelo in his blog.